


Serenity

by ximeria



Category: due South
Genre: Challenge: due South Seekrit Santa, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-06
Updated: 2006-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-21 01:44:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/219513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ximeria/pseuds/ximeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're a freak, Fraser. I mean, even you can't expect to be able to smell a bomb in a rubber duck."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Serenity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shrewreader](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=shrewreader).



> Done for the 2005 Seekrit Santa for [](http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=shrewreader)[Shrewreader](http://www.livejournal.com/users/shrewreader/)
> 
> Thanks to [](http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=aukestrel)[Aukestrel](http://www.livejournal.com/users/aukestrel) for the thorough beta.

"Look, Fraser, wasn't your fault," Ray said with a sigh, as he sat back on the couch, nursing his bandaged arm. "Granted, I never had cases with exploding rubber ducks before I was partnered up with you, but it's not your fault the damned things went off."

"If I had been able to discern the smell a little earlier, you would not be in this pain," Fraser said, the frown-line between his eyebrows pretty evident. Always made Ray want to lick it.

"You're a freak, Fraser. I mean, even you can't expect to be able to smell a bomb in a rubber duck," Ray argued. "And who said I was in pain? They gave me the good stuff," he added with a grin. They had. He was flying high at the moment. Come morning it would hurt like a bitch, but right now? No pain in the world.

"Still, if I had..." Fraser trailed off when Ray put a hand up signaling him to shut up, then pointed at the couch next to him, indicating that 'no' wasn't an answer.

When Fraser sat down, quietly, Ray scooted over to sit as close to him as possible. "You know, there's nothing you can do," he said to Fraser. And there wasn't... well, maybe except kissing and making it better, but even though Ray was sure they'd been flirting for weeks now, he wasn't sure he should be testing these waters while he was flying high on pain meds.

"Ray..."

Oh boy, did Ray recognize that tone of voice. "Frase..." He put as much warning into the name as he possibly could. With a sigh, he shrugged. "Fine, if you wanna make amends of **any** kind, not that you have any to make, then call Sandor for a pizza. And make sure there's pineapple on it."

Fraser did his patented 'I'm not going to roll my eyes, but really, Ray...' look.

Ray cocked his head to the side, resting it on Fraser's shoulder. "Please?" he said, going for his most winsome smile.

Fraser's eyelids dropped suddenly, heavy-lidded, and the tip of his tongue came out to do its customary sweep across the lower lip. Ray mirrored the move without thinking about it. Damned, but the man was hot.

"Frase?" Ray wondered if he should save this until he could think clearly, but...

"Yes, Ray?" Fraser sat still, almost as if he was afraid that any movement would jostle Ray. He'd picked up the phone, was just holding it.

"Would you hold anything I might say while I'm doped against me?" Ray rattled off.

Fraser frowned. "I was not aware that you..." He trailed off. "Ah, I see. You mean while you're under the influence of pain medication."

"Yeah," Ray said, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of Fraser's body against his own. "So, would you?"

Fraser was quiet for a moment. "I would not, nor would I if you were completely lucid."

Ray felt his breath catch in his throat, then a smile stretched his mouth. "'s good, Frase. Call for the pizza, 'kay?"

Fraser's nearly rigid body seemed to lose some of its starch as Fraser finally moved, dialing and putting the phone to his ear.

Keeping his eyes closed, Ray listened as Fraser ordered. Not to the words. No, he trusted the Mountie to order his pizza. It was the cadence, the deep voice, the... Ray smiled to himself. Even if he sometimes cut Fraser off while he was telling one of his many stories, there were other times when he loved to just listen to the sound of it. Didn't always matter what it was saying, as long as it just kept going and going and...

"Ray?" Fraser's enquiry held less worry this time but more than a little curiosity.

"'m good, Frase, don't worry." Ray rubbed his head against the wool of the uniform. Scratchy but not... bad. Ray stayed where he was for the longest time, just drifting. He wasn't even aware that he'd probably fallen asleep using Fraser's shoulder as a pillow, not until the sound of the doorbell pulled him back to the real world.

"Excuse me," Fraser said softly, hands gentle as he maneuvered Ray to sit against the back of the couch.

Ray finally opened his eyes, staring into space. It felt so oddly right, this, sitting next to each other, him leaning on Fraser. He wondered if he could ever get Fraser to lean on him. Maybe one day when Ray wasn't hurt and Fraser might need some sort of ...connection. Like Ray did right now.

The couch felt far too cold and big on his own. Putting his hand on the cushion next to him, Ray could feel the lingering trace of heat from Fraser's body.

"Ray? Is everything okay?"

Ray turned his head to find Fraser watching him with a strange expression. The frown-line was still visible and Ray **still** wanted to lick it. Looking down, Ray saw that Fraser was holding the pizza box out in front of himself, along with paper napkins.

"So... sit, eat," Ray said, giving Fraser a tired smile.

Fraser raised an eyebrow and looked down at Ray's hand which was still covering his cushion.

Ray felt heat rise to his as he pulled his hand back.

Sitting down, Fraser opened the box and dug out a slice for Ray. Oh yeah, Sandor had remembered the pineapple. Maybe Fraser had told him that Ray was wounded. Maybe Sandor had taken pity on him?

Ray tried ignoring the itching under the bandage. Burns were always the worst. Ached and itched like fuck when they healed.

Ray felt a little bad about having a pizza night without Dief around, but at least the wolf hadn't been with them when the ducks had exploded. Fraser had left him with Turnbull because Turnbull had mentioned trying out some of the recipes in his new cookbook.

Dief was probably eating really well tonight, anyway. Pizza or not.

They ate in silence, but Ray's mind was only partly on the food in his hand. He tried to use his skills objectively as he wondered if Fraser might be interested in him the way Ray was interested in Fraser.

The heat along the side of his body was comforting and scorching at the same time. He might even do something about it if he hadn't been partly knocked out by the meds. Either Fraser was ...ammen... ammo... amenable to the idea of getting to know Ray in a whole different way, or he'd turn Ray down. No hard feelings.

It scared the shit out of Ray. What if Fraser **did** say no? What if he said **yes**? If not for the meds, Ray figured he'd be panicking by now.

Ray ate another slice in the silence. It wasn't a bad silence, it just... was. Nice, easy and comfortable.

Sighing, Ray wadded up his napkin and dumped it on the table. " **That** was the highlight of the day," he murmured contentedly.

A chuckle escaped Fraser and Ray smiled. Turning his head he found Fraser watching him with a gentle smile.

"What?" Ray asked, genuinely curious.

Fraser shook his head. Then the smile turned ...peculiar. "This **is** good."

Ray grinned. He knew Fraser wasn't talking about the pizza. Here they were, sitting on the couch, enjoying the evening, although he still missed having Dief conked out under the table after having eaten half the pizza.

"Yeah," he sighed. The meds were definitely kicking in. Ray wondered if he should just go to bed, because he felt as if he was about to drop. Then again, if he did, Fraser would go home and leave Ray on his own.

Ray turned slightly, putting his weight against Fraser, who was watching him with a curious expression. Ray pushed again until he had Fraser reclining against the inside corner of the couch. Then he shifted a little to get comfortable, leaning against Fraser.

Yup, that was the way to do it. Now Fraser couldn't just put him to bed and wander off.

Cunning. Definitely cunning.

Ray squirmed until he was slumped against Fraser, his head resting on Fraser's shoulder, his bandaged arm resting across Fraser's chest and other shoulder.

"Ray...?" Fraser's voice had a strange tone that Ray had never heard before, but it didn't sound bad. Just... Different.

"Mmm?" Ray answered, eyes closed as he nuzzled against the collar of Fraser's uniform. He wondered if he should have pulled it off Fraser first, but he figured that would have given Fraser too much time to fight him off. He had to leave the Mountie with **some** defenses intact, after all.

At least for now.

"I'm..." Fraser cleared his throat and Ray could feel the minute shifting of muscles under his own body.

"Just tell me 'no'," Ray said, feeling fairly awake at least for the time being. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and let Fraser anchor him.

Fraser didn't answer, but hands gripped Ray gently and maneuvered him back up.

Ray held back a sigh as he sat back on the couch, keeping his eyes on the coffee table. At least Fraser had promised not to hold his behavior against him. And Fraser always told the truth.

Next to him, Fraser shifted on the couch and Ray caught the flash of the red uniform along with the sound of... the velcro of the collar. Ray held his breath and fought the smile that threatened to form on his face.

Fraser folded up his uniform jacket and put it on the table. Ray still wasn't sure that he could look up and meet Fraser's eyes, but he had to.

Though first, his eyes were drawn to Fraser's strong fingers, unlacing the boots. First one, then the other and Fraser twisted in his seat to put them down next to the couch.

Finally Ray looked up to find Fraser studying him speculatively. Swallowing hard, Ray decided that he had to leave the next step up to Fraser. It seemed that their ability to work without words wasn't limited to **work** only.

Fraser's face relaxed and a small smile curved his lips as he swung one leg up on the couch to sit sideways. Leaning forward, he took Ray by the elbow and guided him back against his own chest.

Ray allowed himself to relax as he lay there, with one strong leg on either side of his body. Ray let his head rest on Fraser's shoulder again, and this time it was far more comfortable.

He could feel the heat from Fraser's body through the white henley. And Ray could smell him too. He wondered briefly what he smelled like to Fraser. Probably sweaty and with a hint of coffee.

Ray inhaled deeply.

The comfortable smell of wool and soap filled his nose, along with smoke from the fire, burned rubber and a little sweat. Ray let it all wash over him.

A strong hand slid up to cup the back of his neck and for a moment Ray held his breath. He let it out slowly when Fraser's thumb began stroking under the short hair in the back of his head.

Ray lay there for what felt like ages, just enjoying the unfamiliar familiarity of being close to Fraser. It felt so damned right. Finally he opened his eyes and tilted his head up, trying to get a good look at Fraser's face.

The blue eyes were closed and his lips were slightly parted. Ray licked his own, wondering if it would be moving too fast to just lean up and...

Fraser opened his eyes and tilted his own head down, watching Ray intensely.

Ray could get lost in there. He figured it was a good old cliché, but Fraser's eyes... He wondered if the skies up in Canada sometimes had that deep blue color.

Fraser's hand slid from Ray's neck to cup the side of Ray's head. He opened his mouth to say something, but Ray shook his head, then rubbed it against Fraser's hand.

Fraser closed his eyes for a moment, and Ray could both see and feel how he swallowed hard.

With a soft grin, Ray reached up, careful of the bandage on his arm, to touch Fraser's bottom lip.

The eyes opened again, wide and blue.

Ray let his finger drop to Fraser's chin and then urged Fraser's head down a little, just enough for him to feel Fraser's breath against his own lips.

A soft sigh blew against Ray's face and he swallowed the last of it as he sealed his lips over Fraser's. Dry. They were a little... dry. Ray pulled back and licked his lips, then repeated his move.

Breathing. Fraser's lips parted a little and it hit Ray that they were doing it again, only this time there was no water, no pirates, no death around the corner...

A soft moan escaped Fraser and then the shared breathing was over. Ray opened his mouth more, letting Fraser control the kiss. It was so gentle, yet Ray could feel the tremors running through Fraser and knew that he was holding back.

Ray pulled back again, partly to catch his breath and partly to look at Fraser's flushed face.

"I'm not fragile," he told Fraser with a small smile.

"I know," Fraser whispered. "But I want to do this right."

"Nice and slow," Ray agreed, lowering his own voice to a whisper.

Fraser nodded.

"Stay with me tonight," Ray said, not pleading, but simply asking for what he knew Fraser could give him. He just... knew.

Fraser bit his lower lip, making it even redder than their kissing had. Ray could see a bit of rash where his stubble had rubbed a little hard over Fraser's skin. Right there at the corner of his mouth.

"Just to sleep," Ray explained. "Just... stay."

Fraser's hand slid through Ray's hair. Dipping his head again, Fraser gave him another long and slow kiss. Letting go, he licked his lips, an unfamiliar smile on his face. A good smile, Ray decided. It looked good on Fraser. Kinda lighted him up from the inside.

Sure made Ray all soft and amenable. Okay, maybe not completely soft.

Fraser gently guided his head back down on his shoulder, shifted and pulled the comforter off the back of the couch, spreading it with a snap of his wrists, to cover them both.

Ray grinned as he closed his eyes. "Something wrong with the bed?" he asked.

"Later..." Fraser said softly. "For now we can stay right here. We don't have to move... yet."

Ray took a deep, cleansing breath and nodded sleepily. No, they didn't have to move just yet. For all Ray cared, they could stay there indefinitely.

 **The End**


End file.
